In the city of York the people are expecting great news from the battle raging at Fulford Gate, but very quickly this mood changes as the populace begin to realise the way in which the fight is going and what it will probably mean for them. Midlryth is as anxious as anyone, but at least she has Edwin, Coenred’s shield-bearer for company. On the field itself, Wulfhere decides to abandon his pretence of being a warrior and flee before the final conclusion of the battle. He is the kind of man who puts himself first, but that said, he is not above taking advantage of someone else’s misfortune. It is still in his mind to exploit Mildryth’s situation also. He knows that she now lives under the protection of a great huscarl, but he believes that that man, Coenred, is probably now dead himself. Time to flee and take as much as he can with him.
Below is a PDF file of the chapter under discussion. Please, click on the link and enjoy.
Peter C Whitaker 
Hello,
I am a Medieval Historian who is currently working with PBS and the English Heritage Society to study the events leading up to Hastings. I admire you for tackling a hard subject with little primary source documents available to us. I wanted to add that you may be seeing Hardrada in a slightly incorrect light. Harald Hardrada was 50 years old at the time Stamford Bridge came about and of the three major claimants to the throne he was by far, the best travelled, the most successful warrior and head of the Byzantine Varangian Guard, and had more combined wealth than almost anyone else and was certainly equal to Harold Godwin and William in terms of kingmanship.
I have translated over 60 charters and documents from the original Norse, Saxon and Latin (Old-Latin and Medieval Latin) and uncovered some fascinating details about all three men and what drove them. Tostig, as you correctly point out, is at the center of intrigue. He first went to William, a visit we found mentioned in the side margins of William of Jumiéges account. William was well on his way to building his naval fleet and didn’t seem to understand or grasp what Tostig’s true intentions were. After all, for all William knew, Tostig was a spy who could easily be persuaded to reveal William’s planning and methodology to his brother.
In fact, Eustace of Boulogne writes to his brother-in-law Conan of Brittany, warning him not to place his trust in Tostig. Conan, at the time, was at war with William and could easily have been tempted to enlist Harold Godwin’s brother for assistance. Was this the beginning of the Age of Chivalry as we know it? After all, both wondered how a man could betray his own blood and whether a man with no honor could be trusted at all.
Tostig felt like William was dismissive. So, he headed up to Scotland where his good friend Malcolm offered an idea. After Cnut died in 1035, the North Sea Empire was deemed too large for one man to rule it effectively. So, Magnus the Good and Harthacnut agreed to split the empire into two. Magnus would rule Norway, Denmark and other Norse strongholds along the northern frontier, and Harthacnut would rule England. In the event that one died before the other, the one who lived would end up ruling both, and then passing it down in dynastic form to the heirs.
But only Magnus lived long enough to have a child, unfortunately it was a female, Ragnesdotter, and she was too young when he died to even be made a queen consort. Harthacnut died of consumption before he had any heirs at all.
It’s ironic to me that Hardrada’s biographers ever mention the agreement. Tostig certainly knew of it, but Hardrada was all over Europe at the time and his connection to the events happening in England were fairly remote to his mind. Tostig figured differently, and with Malcolm’s subtle urgings, Hardrada staked his claim to the throne of England upon assurances that Tostig would use his influence to do everything possible to have England surrender without a fight.
We can see Tostig’s devious nature in all of this. Certainly Hardrada had to be convinced England was worth the effort. But if there’s one thing in Snorri Sturleson’s writings that just jump out of the pages to me it is that Hardrada’s life had been a legend in his own time.
Keep up the good work,
You write in a manner that everyone can enjoy, and don’t ever change your style. The passion of every historian is the ability to communicate an idea, not to look like you’ve been in school for the past 30 years writing papers for other professors!
All the Best,
Robert Bluestein
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Robert,
Thank you very much for taking the time to write such an interesting piece. Your observations that some of my interpretation is correct and my only defence is artistic licence. In my first draft of The War Wolf there was a lot of historical information. Friends who read it liked the facts that they discovered but felt that it slowed the pace of the story. I agreed. Unfortunately, that meant jettisoning a lot of the research that I had done and written into the book, much of which you cover in your comments. However, that made the book read more like a piece of historical fiction instead of a treatise on 1066, which was always my aim.
Your last paragraph is something that I will always value. It makes all the work I put into this trilogy worthwhile, thank you!
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Good grief! Apologies, Robert, I typed ‘incorrect’ instdead of ‘correct’! Obviously, I do need an editor!
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